1.
Chapter Chairman CMSgt Linda Valinho called the meeting to order at 1845.
The full board of trustees was in attendance.
a. The Chairman led the chapter in the
Pledge of Allegiance.
b.
The Chief then reminded all in attendance that the water pipes were still
frozen.
c. Chief Valinho then introduced the board members. She noted that each board member’s
responsibilities were listed following their name on the meeting agenda sheet handed out prior to the meeting.
d.
Following the board introductions, all Rats and Knights in attendance stood
and were recognized.
e.
There were no newcomers to recognize.
f.
The Chief then thanked Pepper Beasley and Nadine for preparing the meal.
2.
Chief Valinho then moved into her prepared agenda.
a. The first item was review of the minutes
for January. Copies of the minutes had been distributed for review prior to the meeting. There
was no discussion of the minutes. A motion to approve the minutes as written was seconded and approved
by a voice vote.
b. Next, the Chief reviewed the Treasurers report for January.
c.
The next item on the agenda was the member spotlight, as presented by Chapter
Historian, Jaimee Beasley. The spotlight this month focused on Sir Dave Erb.
d.
Chief Valinho briefed the membership on the recently completed Annual Report.
Sir Scott and Sir Oz helped the Chief compile the report. It is posted on the website and will be
dispatched to NCOA International Headquarters next week in plenty of time to meet the 15th of March deadline for
submission.
e.
She then noted that the 2010 Calendar
of events is completed and posted. A copy is on the website and paper copies are on the bulletin board
and available for pickup by members. The only known events that are not yet included on the calendar are
the Football games because the 2010 Air
Force Football Schedule has not yet been released. She also
noted that it will only be updated three or four times per year, as events are added or rescheduled.
f.
Chief Valinho then advised the membership that the check from International
for our support of the Job Fair last fall will be picked up by Sir Marvin Weaver tomorrow. He will then
pass it to Sir Abe for deposit.
g. She then advised the membership that the Special Olympics Winter Games were back on the schedule at
Copper Mountain on the 28th and 29th of March. If you would like to volunteer, please
contact Sir Marvin for details on sign ups.
h. Next, the Chief briefed the membership on participation in the National Program known as “Honor
Flight”. She and Martha Lovell will be part of a group escorting about 40 WWII Veterans to Washington
D.C. in the middle of May. When the subject was discussed at the board meeting earlier in the month, the
board surfaced the idea of donating something to the packets of handouts to be presented to the veterans at the time of the
trip. NCOA Pins, chapter pens and a handout providing information about the World War II Legacy program
were some of the suggested items.
i.
Chief Valinho mentioned that the chapter had received an e-mail from and
individual requesting support for an event called “Comics for Courage”. According to the publicity,
and event is scheduled for May 7th at Loonies Comedy Club. The event is advertised as a fundraiser
for the Wounded Warrior Program. The Chief is going to attempt to get more information on the subject.
j.
The Chief then read a thank-you letter from the Red Cross.
The Red Cross had received and presented two of the quilts put together by the chapter in support of the Quilts of
Valor program. She also noted that the next meeting of the group would be Sunday, February 21st
at 1300 at the chapter clubhouse.
k. The next item briefed was the chapter’s support of the Deployed Families Dinner program at Peterson
AFB. Chapter personnel will be asked to cook, serve and clean up for a meal scheduled on Friday, November
5th at the Chapel on Peterson. Eight to Twelve people are needed to support the event.
Pepper Beasley volunteered to be the point of contact for the event. The menu will be provided in
advance of the event. Chapter personnel will need to prepare it, serve it, and clean up. Food
is paid for by sponsors of the event.
l.
Cadet Graduation is coming up on Wednesday, the 26th of May.
Volunteer will be needed for sales and pickup. The board will be contacting various organizations
regarding the pickup duties. There was discussion about the placing of the seatbacks since gates 1 and
2 are not used. This is normally a sell-out event, but sales depend on proper location of the seatbacks.
m.
Chief Valinho described a conversation she had with Scoop Davis from International
Headquarters. He noted that printing and distribution costs had caused the Headquarters Staff to cease
the print edition of the NCOA Journal. Future editions will be electronic only. Scoop
is looking for persons from individual chapters to act as writers, editors, etc for articles to be included in future editions.
No-one from the chapter volunteered, but Angie Gardner said she would ask her daughter, Ashley, who has interests in
that area.
n. The Denver Area Army JROTC program has again requested support from the chapter. They will conduct
their program on the 7th of May at 1000. Sir Scott Ytzen agreed to support their event.
o.
The Chief then noted that the Chapter’s 5-Year lease on the clubhouse
expires in May of 2011. It will be up for automatic renewal. However, Sir Oz and Sir
Joe noted that the Academy has a program to demolish old indigenous facilities on the Academy Grounds. While
our clubhouse is not on the list of facilities to be demolished, it could be added. Sir Oz and the Chief
will put together a briefing for Academy Officials, outlining the support the Chapter provides to military communities at
the Academy, Peterson AFB and Schriever AFB, in the event the chapter needs to justify retaining use of the clubhouse.
p.
Chief Valinho then advised the membership that the current list of Chapter
Rats has been posted to the bulletin board. A Knight’s list will be forthcoming.
q.
The next agenda item concerned legislative updates. The
Chief noted that NCOA International posts updates on their website (www.ncoausa.org). After some discussion, Sir Dave Erb will work on publicizing legislative issues the organization is
supporting (or opposing, as the case may be).
r.
The Chairman then opened the floor to discussion of the Chapter Handbook.
Two items will be updated for the final version. The first will amend the section regarding gifts
to members from the chapter to add “going-away” to the cited examples. The second will align
voting at the annual elections with the rules established by NCOA International. Members must be in attendance
at the date and time of the election. Proxy or absentee ballots will not be allowed.
s.
Next, Chief Valinho noted that a volunteer hours worksheet was posted on
the bulletin board. All are asked to review and correct the January data. If there is
data from some other month that needs to be added, a sheet for that purpose is posted just above the January worksheet.
t.
Finally, the Chief reviewed some upcoming events.
(1) The clubhouse indoor cleanup scheduled for March 6th
is postponed to an as yet undecided date due to the lack of water in the clubhouse (Frozen pipes).
(2)
The clubhouse garage cleanup is still on for the 24th of April.
(3)
Convention is coming up in Las Vegas on the 22nd through the
24th of July. Rooms are currently going at $42 per night and registration (funded by the chapter)
will be $150 per attendee. Registration is due by June 30th.
(4)
For those who are interested in being “Ratted” at the convention,
or those who wish to be elevated in Knighthood, packages are due to International by 1 May 2010.
3. Chief Valinho then asked for reports
from the bases and community.
a. There was no report for Schriever since
no-one from that base was in attendance.
b.
Sir Scott advised all to watch out for the road construction projects on the Air Force Academy. They
will be ongoing for the next two years.
c.
Sir Scott also noted that it is not too late to participate in the Knights Winter Feast would be held at the Cheyenne
Mountain Resort on the 20th of February. All NCOA members are invited to the event.
d. Sir Jason
Porter reported that the Team Pete awards ceremony would take place as a breakfast on the 11th of March.
e. Martha Lovell reminded all that TREA
will have a breakfast tomorrow morning at the TREA building. The cost is $4 for a good meal that precedes
the monthly TREA meeting.
f. Sir
Scott then noted that the Annual Awards program for the Academy would take place on Tuesday, the 23rd of February.
Chapter sponsored awards for that event are already prepared.
g.
Pepper Beasley announced that she had received a packet from Headquarters NCOA with the documents necessary to start
an auxiliary chapter. She announced that she has a list of auxiliary members in the Colorado Springs area
that are not affiliated with the Mountain Post Chapter. She noted that five persons are needed to start
a chapter and asked if any of the ladies in attendance were willing to join her efforts to start an auxiliary chapter.
Some discussion did not result in any immediate takers.
h.
It was noted that tomorrow (February 20th) will be the 2nd anniversary of the death of the father
of the Air Academy Chapter of the NCOA: Sir Ben Benzel.
4.
Chief Valinho then asked for input from the board.
a. Neither Sir Joe, Sir Abe, nor Sir Jerry
had any inputs.
b. Sir Scott
advised the members that he had recently talked with past Trustee Judy Allison. She is currently recovering
from surgery at her home in Texas. She had asked that Sir Scott let everyone know that they are invited
to her retirement ceremony on the 18th of March at 1500.
c.
Sir Scott then described a program he had participated in last month.
The program is sponsored by the “Friends of the NRA”. It is a fully funded guided Elk
Hunt for wounded veterans. The trip he was on had seven recently combat wounded veterans. Sponsors
would like to expand the scope of the event and Sir Scott was soliciting a donation from the chapter. After
some discussion of the event, a motion to donate $200 in support of the next event was seconded and approved by a voice vote.
d.
Sir Oz noted that the chapter has been invited to assist in leading chapter
officer training at the convention this year. Sir Oz indicated that he was looking for a couple of folks
to help him get assistance from other chapters in putting on the training.
e.
Chief Valinho noted that several packages of small toiletry items had been
brought in as a result of her request at the last meeting. She reminded all of the ongoing campaign for
soda can tabs (Ronald McDonald House), Coupons (for dispatch to overseas commissaries) and small toiletry items.
5. With
no further agenda items or input, Chief Valinho asked the secretary for action items from the meeting. Sir
Jerry reviewed his notes and passed on the following action items:
a. Paragraph 2f: Sir
Marvin Weaver to pick up a check for the chapter at the banquet tomorrow evening.
b.
Paragraph 2h: Sir Jerry to develop a WWII Legacy handout for the Honor Flight participants.
c.
Paragraph 2i: Chief Valinho to follow up on the Comics
for Courage event.
d. Paragraph 2k: Pepper Beasley to act as point of contact for the Deployed Families Dinner on the 5th
of November at Peterson AFB.
e.
Paragraph 2n: Sir Scott Ytzen to support the Denver
Area Annual JROTC Awards program.
f.
Paragraph 2o: Chief Valinho to consolidate the recommended
changes to the Chapter Operations Manual and get it ready for approval at the next General Membership meeting.
6. Chief
Valinho then asked Sir Abe Braverman to come to the front of the room. She presented him with an NCOA Super
Saxon Award for 2009. Sir Jason Porter was also so honored.
7.
Following the presentation of the awards, Chief Valinho entertained a motion to adjourn. It was
so moved and seconded. By voice vote, the meeting was closed with a reminder to sign in on the attendance
roster. Sir Abe Braverman read the NCOA creed and the meeting was adjourned at 2020.
